“At this juncture, we do not believe she is involved,” he said. “Nothing has been ruled out, but as far as actively looking for a suspect tonight, the answer would be no.”

The bodies were discovered Saturday afternoon by McNair’s longtime friend Wayne Neeley, who said he rents the condo with McNair.

Aaron said Neeley told authorities he went into the condo, saw McNair on the sofa and Kazemi on the floor but walked to the kitchen before going back to the living room, where he saw the blood. Neeley then called a friend, who alerted authorities.

Police said a witness saw McNair arrive at the condo between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Saturday and that Kazemi’s vehicle was already there.

Last week, Nashville police arrested Kazemi on a DUI charge while driving a 2007 Escalade registered to her and McNair. McNair was in the front seat, but didn’t break the law and was allowed to leave by taxi.

The Tennessean newspaper’s Web site reported that Keith Norfleet, Kazemi’s boyfriend for four years before they broke up five months ago, said he came to pick up the car for Kazemi after her DUI arrest.

Norfleet said she told him she was seeing McNair, whom she met while working as a waitress at Dave & Busters, the paper reported. He was worried about her dating a married man and hopeful they’d get back together. They had lived together for four years, since they moved from her family’s home in Jacksonville, Fla., to Nashville, The Tennessean reported.

In June, McNair opened a restaurant near the Tennessee State University campus. It was closed Saturday evening, but had become a small memorial, where flowers, candles and notes had been placed outside the door.

On the restaurant’s windows were messages: “We will miss you Steve” and “We love you Steve.”

A note attached to a small blue teddy bear read, “We will never forget you, Steve. Once a Titan, always a Titan.”

McNair, the No. 3 overall pick by the Oilers in 1995, spent two seasons in Houston before the franchise moved to Tennessee in 1997 (and was renamed the Titans in 1999). He retired in 2008 after 13 NFL seasons.

Skilled with both his arm and legs, the three-time Pro Bowler finished with a career record of 91-62 (.595) as a starting NFL quarterback. He, Fran Tarkenton and Steve Young are the only NFL quarterbacks who threw for more than 30,000 yards and rushed for more than 3,500 .

“We don’t know the details, but it is a terrible tragedy, and our hearts go out to the families involved,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

Super Bowl appearance

In McNair’s two seasons in Houston (1995-96), he won four of the six games he started. In 1997, he became a full-time starter during the Oilers’ lone season in Memphis, Tenn., then spent the subsequent eight years in Nashville before joining the Baltimore Ravens in 2006.

“Steve was one of the greatest players to play for us,” Titans owner Bud Adams said.

“This is a terrible thing. It’s so hard to understand.”

The Titans’ lone Super Bowl appearance came in January 2000, when they narrowly fell 23-16 to the St. Louis Rams. Getting the ball with less than two minutes to play, McNair engineered a long drive to the Rams’ 10-yard line with five seconds remaining. On the game’s final play, he connected on a 9-yard pass to Kevin Dyson, who was tackled less than yard from the goal line. Prior to that, McNair had brought the Titans back from a 16-0 deficit to even the score.

“I’m still in a state of shock,” former Oilers/Titans running back Eddie George told ESPN. “In this situation, you can’t help but go back to the great times we shared together on the field and off the field — bringing this team to Nashville and the whole transition and watching him mature into a great player after being scrutinized early in his career by the media and everyone else.”

McNair passed for more than 3,000 yards six times in his career, his last 3,000-yard season coming in 2006. In his most prolific season, 2002, he passed for 3,387 yards.

“He was a player who I admired a great deal,” said Patriots senior football adviser Floyd Reese, general manager of the Titans during McNair’s tenure, said in a statement.

Played through the pain

Among the former teammates shocked and saddened by the news was cornerback Samari Rolle, who spent nine seasons with McNair in Tennessee and Baltimore.

“Steve was the ultimate man, first of all,” Rolle told BaltimoreRavens.com. “I still can’t even believe it. To lose such a good friend and a good man so soon doesn’t make sense.

“If you were going to draw a football player — the physical part, the mental part, everything about being a professional — he is your guy. I can’t even wrap my arms around it. It is a sad, sad day. The world lost a great man today.”

McNair played through injuries throughout much of his career, and it was injuries that eventually forced him to retire. However, his teammates said you could rarely tell he was in pain.

“Steve was such a happy person,” former Ravens teammate Derrick Mason told BaltimoreRavens.com. “I even called him ‘Smile.’ He was always smiling and was always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it. I’ve known him for 13 years, and he was the most selfless, happiest and friendliest person I have known.”